High Season for Ballet at Mikhailovsky Theatre

If for tourism September is the beginning of the low season, for Mikhailovsky theatre it is the busiest time of the year. In September, from the 8th to the 25th, you are welcome to see the best ballet dancers of Russia and other countries together on one scene. The stars include such famous names as Natalia Osipova, Ekaterina Borchenko, Ivan Zaicev, Leonid Sarafanov.

Among foreign names there will be a young but already internationally recognized principal danсer from Stuttgart Ballet, Friedemann Vogel. He has performed in Russia for the Bolshoi theatre and Mariinsky theatre but this will be the first time for him in Mikhailovsky. It will be possible to see him in two performances — »Swan Lake» on the 10th of September and »Giselle» together with an outstanding Russian ballerina Polina Semionova.

Another international duet will be represented by Natalia Osipova, the principal danсer of Mikhailovsky theatre, and David Hallberg, the first American to become the principle dancer of Bolshoi. Although Semionova and Vogel have already danced together before, for Osipova and Hallberg it will be their first show together. This exquisite duet will star in »Swan Lake» on the 11th of September.

Another long-awaited ballet performance is a masterpiece from the head of the Mikhailovsky ballet team Nacho Duato called »White Darkness» inspired by the music of Franz Schubert. For more traditional dance the Mikhailovsky theatre invites you to see »The Cavalry Halt» created by famous Marius Petipa.

Looking at the playbill we must admit that to choose only one show to see will be very difficult indeed. As the Director General of the theatre, Mr. Kekhman explains, two big tours are planned for the ballet team of Mikhailovsky theatre this year — one to Japan and the other in the USA. For this reason they decided to dedicate a whole month to ballet.